"My… my name is Shiho Yatsuki…."
"I see. Shiho. Why are you here?"
"T-That's…"
The girl, Shiho, faltered under Hitokawa's questioning, unable to provide an answer.
"And where did you get this?"
Hitokawa produced a metallic object wrapped in a handkerchief. it was the handgun loaded with Q-bullets that Shiho had been using.
"A handgun is one thing, but these bullets are not something you can obtain through ordinary means."
"Uuu… that's…."
"And those two men from earlier, why on earth were they—"
"Good grief, watching you two is like watching a slow-motion train wreck."
Eto cut Hitokawa off, physically pushing his face out of the way. Hitokawa, naturally, took offense.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"You're scaring her! Stay out of it while I talk to her!"
Eto crouched down to match Shiho's height and spoke with a friendly tone.
"Hi there. I'm Eto. Eto Takaki. We aren't trying to blame you for anything. We're just really curious about a few things. I'm going to ask you some questions; would you mind answering them?"
Perhaps because it was a girl her own age speaking, Shiho didn't seem afraid and nodded obediently. Hitokawa, watching Eto question the girl from a short distance, grumbled to himself in disbelief.
"This is all wrong. Terrified of an investigator, yet perfectly fine with a ghoul."
Hitokawa kicked at the dirt in frustration. A moment later, his eyes widened as he saw Eto approaching him with a mask of frozen severity. What could she have heard to make her look like that?
"What did she say?"
Eto wordlessly handed him a photograph. It appeared to be a photo Shiho had been carrying. Hitokawa checked the image and barely managed to swallow the profanity that surged up his throat. His expression twitched violently as he finally forced himself to speak.
"What… what is this?"
"It's Shiho's 'mother.'"
"Don't screw with me!! This is…!!"
Hitokawa couldn't finish the sentence, his eyes glued back to the photograph. A head impaled upon a tree branch, with intestines draped over the wood like festive decorations. It was the exact same grotesque display as the photo he had accidentally shown Koma once before.
"This is a 'Work' by 'The Artist'!"
"The Artist? An artist?"
Eto, hearing of the ghoul known as The Artist for the first time, looked puzzled, but there was more that needed to be said.
"Shiho lived alone with her mother, but one day, her mother disappeared. A few days later, a package was delivered to her by courier—this photo and the handgun were inside. The sender was listed as her mother's name. …Doesn't this sequence of events sound familiar?"
"…Koma."
Koma had also received a handgun with Q-bullets in a package sent under his father's name.
"And Koma's father… he was killed by The Artist during a mission."
"Grandpa was…?"
Eto seemed shocked by the revelation. She had never truly met Koma's father. Whenever she asked Koma about meeting him, he would look troubled and say, "No way. The old man would probably draw his blade the second he saw you." However, Eto remembered clearly that Koma had mourned his death more deeply than anyone.
"Koma, who lost his father to The Artist, received Q-bullets in his father's name—as if being told to take revenge. And now, this girl, Shiho, loses her mother to the same ghoul and receives Q-bullets in her mother's name. This is far beyond a mere coincidence."
"There's one more suspicious thing. She said while she was in shock after seeing the photo of her mother's horrific state, she received a phone call."
"A phone call?"
"The voice of a man she'd never heard before. He told her who killed her mother, where they were, and even gave her detailed instructions on how to kill them."
"Wait, you're telling me this little girl committed such a reckless act just because of a phone call from a stranger? Just because she had Q-bullets doesn't mean she stood a chance! She almost died at the hands of those ghouls!"
"She finds it strange herself. She said that while she was listening to the man's voice, a surge of rage and a desire for revenge overwhelmed her, and before she knew it, she was following his instructions."
Luring a child of barely seven or eight years old with nothing but a voice and sending her to kill a ghoul alone… Is such a thing even possible? If so, what kind of monster was the one who actually carried it out? While Hitokawa was lost in confusion, Eto spoke.
"Mr. Hitokawa. It's just a thought, but… do you think The Artist and the group that kidnapped Papa… could be the same entity?"
"The Artist is a group? That's impossible. He's been confirmed as a lone actor for years…"
Hitokawa trailed off, stopping to stroke his chin as a thought occurred to him.
"No… perhaps not. There were reports during the last sighting that he was with unidentified ghouls. It's possible he got tired of the CCG's relentless investigation and started gathering subordinates."
"Then this could be where that group is hiding."
Gathering all the information they had, it was clear that The Artist was connected to the people who had kidnapped Koma. If they were separate factions, it might not be an immediate problem, but if he was part of that collective…
"Then, the reason they kidnapped Papa is…?"
Eto looked down at the photograph of the horrific remains. She had likely reached the same conclusion as Hitokawa, as her face went deathly pale. Hitokawa grabbed her arm just as she was about to bolt like a lightning strike.
"Hey, calm down!"
"How can I be calm right now?! If we don't hurry, Papa will…! Papa will…!"
Unable to control her emotions, her 𝘬𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘯 manifested in her eyes. It was a mercy that her back was turned to Shiho; if the girl had seen Eto now, she would have been terrified. Though, as it stood, she was already frightened by Eto's screaming.
"If you want to increase Koma's chances of survival even by a fraction, listen to me!!"
"…!!"
Eto finally managed to suppress her emotions and turned back to him. Hitokawa sighed. Honestly, this girl was usually so mature, but the moment Koma was involved, she reverted into a thoughtless child.
"The Artist is a Rate S ghoul. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't stand a chance even if we worked together. Furthermore, that Insect-Masked ghoul is an estimated Rate A. We have no idea how many other ghouls are in there. Charging into their hideout like this is nothing more than a moth flying into a flame."
"Are you telling me to give up, then?!"
"That's not what I said! Listen to me until the end!!"
Hitokawa pressed a hand to his forehead. To be honest, he didn't want to bring this up to Eto. His values, his conscience, his pride—everything inside him recoiled at the idea. But when he weighed those things against Koma's life, he had no choice but to make a decision.
Hitokawa forced his mouth to open and looked directly at Eto.
"Listen carefully. To save Koma…"
"You have to die, Eto."
"Wait a moment, Minami."
Minami, who had been contemplating which eyeball to pluck out first while waving the awl before my face, turned around at the sound of the voice behind her.
"Oh my~ President? It's been a while since you've come out~?"
'The President?'
I didn't know who it was, but the title alone was enough to tell me this was the leader of this lunatic group.
'Let's see what kind of bastard you are.'
I tried to lift my head to see his face, but it was blocked by Minami's back. I tried to shift my body, but there was a limit to how much I could move while tightly bound.
"I heard you brought in quite an interesting material?"
"Yes! I think I can make a real masterpiece this time~. Especially the eyes—aren't they just wonderful~?"
"I see. May I have a look?"
"Of course!"
Minami obediently stepped aside, and I nearly screamed.
It wasn't because I saw the "President's" face. It was because the moment Minami moved, a shadow fell over me like a collapsing shroud.
I couldn't even see his face.
All I could see was an 𝘦𝘺𝘦.
It was so close it filled my entire field of vision—pressed almost against my own face, staring into my eyes with a bloodshot, manic intensity. Honestly, it was like a scene straight out of a horror movie.
I tried to turn my head away, but the hands pinning me down from both sides made it impossible. Something inside those pupils—a madness incomprehensible to a normal human—made bile rise in my throat.
Seriously, get away from me. I'm going to throw up.
After staring into my eyes for a long time, the President's gaze narrowed as if he had found something unsatisfactory.
"Truly a shame. To meet you in such a manner, Koma Takaki."
"?"
What? This guy knows me? While I was reeling from the confusion, he continued.
"Your father, Harima Takaki, was also a wonderful material…. but his resistance was so fierce I had no choice but to kill him on the spot. Even now, I regret so deeply that I couldn't bring his corpse back with me."
".................................."
Hey, calm down.
Remember your current situation. Agitating the opponent is a bad idea.
…My reason whispered to me. And to that, my heart gave its answer.
"What the hell did you just say, you son of a bitch?"
A rage that reason could not suppress boiled over, and the one they called the President curled his eyes into a smile, as if he finally liked what he saw.